Schumer hints that Obama may not need Congress to avoid default.

Though President Obama once seemed to hold hopes of presiding over one of Washington’s fabled ‘grand bargains’ to rein in the long-term national debt, recent events have painted a different picture. Republicans have pushed an increasingly maximalist line — deep cuts to discretionary spending, Social Security and Medicare, zero new revenues and no effort to boost the economy at all. Meanwhile the president and his congressional allies have continued a series of tactical retreats with no clear stated limit on how much they’ll concede.

But the picture is stranger when you leave the hot house environment of Washington, where I just spent a couple days and look at what evidence we actually have about the mood of the country. Read More

Which GOP presidential wannabe are the climate change deniers most sweet on? The answer may surprise you.

The Minnesota state government shutdown yesterday evening after the popular Democratic governor and the Republican state legislature couldn’t agree to a budget deal. Former Gov. TIm Pawlenty says shutting it down was the right thing to do.

Glenn Beck’s last show on Fox distilled by TPM intern Michael Lester into an epic 87 seconds of pomposity. Watch.

Whether or not President Obama has a viable remedy is one thing. But it looks pretty clear now that what congressional Republicans are threatening to do — not honor the national debt — violates the 14th Amendment. The plain words of the text as well as the legislative history/original intent was designed to prevent a runaway Congress from threatening to repudiate the national debt, which is what Boehner and co. are threatening to do.

You can say, well, they’re not really threatening to repudiate the national debt … just kinda not pay for a while. Who knows how long? But that’s what it is. “The validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.”

If you’re late to the story on what’s made Mark Halperin the poster boy for all that is wrong with DC punditry, check out this quintessential Halperin analysis from the 2008 campaign. It’s a classic.

“I’m sorry. In a live radio interview this week, I used a word I shouldn’t have. The fact that I was conveying other people’s words is no excuse for my lapse in judgment. It won’t happen again.” –Mark Halperin, Feb. 13, 2008

What was Halperin apologizing for then? Comments he made on the radio to Barbara Walters while discussing whether John Edwards would endorse Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama:

“I can tell you, he’s really skeptical of her ability to be the kind of president he wants. But, he kinda thinks Obama is … he thinks Obama is kind of a pussy … He has real questions about Obama’s toughness, his readiness for the office.”

For the record, Edwards ultimately endorsed Obama. The combo of tough guy profanity and dubious analysis is pure Halperin.

Thanks to TPM Reader JK for the reminder.

Things are getting tense in Wisconsin where Justice David Prosser is being investigated for allegedly putting a fellow member of the court in a chokehold.

Today, though, he didn’t do himself any favors. While a reporter was trying to get Prosser to answer questions about the incident the Justice momentarily lost his cool and grabbed the microphone out of the reporter’s hand before quickly realizing that probably wasn’t a good thing to do on camera and handing it back.

Watch the video here.

Administrative Law Judge Clifford Anderson has denied Boeing’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the National Labor Relations Board.